


Golden Dust and Emerald Dreams

by dearxalchemist



Category: Emerald City (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Holding Hands, Intimacy, Romance, Traveling, answered prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-17 18:32:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9337718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearxalchemist/pseuds/dearxalchemist
Summary: Dorothy turns away from him just as Toto comes galloping down the hillside, muzzle wet with fresh water and tail thumping with excitement. The dog collides with Dorothy and they share a moment while he lingers back like a good swordsman would, like a true guardian.A collection of answered prompts.





	1. Getting Lost

**Prompt #8: He Keeps Getting Lost**

“Toto! Toto!” 

“Dorothy you shouldn’t be shouting like that, you’re going to attract trouble.” Lucas limps behind her, slow and steady. He lingers back a few inches when she stops and frowns at the crease in her brow.

“I’m just worried about him.” She mutters softly hooking a hand over her eyes to peer over the land, blocking out the heavy rays of the sun. A soft exhale leaves her and he can see the worry in her bones. Her muscles are tense and her jaw tightens but she doesn’t give up. Not even for the little furry beast that follows her around, keeping up beside her when he can not. 

“Toto will come back.” He attempts reassurance, raising a hand to place it on her shoulder and then dragging his fingers back to himself, resisting the pull to comfort her. The wind blows across the plateau causing the golden poppy dust to flurry every which way, coating them both in another layer of dirt and grime. 

“Yeah but what if he doesn’t? He keeps getting lost and it’s my fault he’s here.” She frowns and turns to look up at him, lips twisted down and hands twisting in her borrowed shirt in a nervous fidget. When he gives her a curious look, she lets out a frustrated sigh, “He was in the car with me! What was I supposed to do? Leave him out in a tornado? That’s just – awful.” 

Frustration bubbles up under her skin and Lucas wants nothing more than to reach up and sooth it away, a hand on her cheek maybe, a thumb stroking over the frown to erase away the hard lines. Only before he can reach for her there is a faint bark. 

Dorothy turns away from him just as Toto comes galloping down the hillside, muzzle wet with fresh water and tail thumping with excitement. The dog collides with Dorothy and they share a moment while he lingers back like a good swordsman would, like a true guardian.


	2. Are These Yours?

**Prompt #10: Are These Yours?**

It’s been days since she’s bathed, properly – sweat sticks to her skin and her hair is a tangled mess, snarled and unkempt, so when she finds the fresh flowing river, she practically drags herself free of the golden trail. Yellow poppy-seeds follow behind her as she skips off the beaten path. Toto barks behind her and lopes down the side of the land while Lucas pauses at the edge of the trail, hesitant to limp down to her.

“Dorothy?” He calls to her and she turns her head just for a moment to shout back to him.

“Give me five minutes, just five.” She turns her head down and goes straight for the river, stepping over an odd-shaped stone and stepping down on the bank. The ground is soft beneath her boots and she practically revels in the way the water rushes between her fingers as she kneels down. Dorothy pulls up handfuls of the fresh river and washes her arms, up to her elbows. Bits of her red dress get damp but she doesn’t seem to mind at all. She washes her face next. 

“Dorothy it’s not safe for us to go too far off the path.” Lucas’ voice is gruff, low and softly warning her as he limps down closer to her, but she pays him no mind. Instead she sheds her backpack and moves to pull out her dirty clothes from before. The old t-shirt and jeans are caked with poppy seeds, dirt, sweat, mud, and blood. A grimace passes her face as she dunks the dirty clothes in the fresh river. The water seems to do the trick as the stains slowly drain out and head down stream. A few pieces of her clothing start to get away from her, a sock and then a pair of underwear which causes a deep flush to cover the tops of her cheeks as Lucas rescues them both for her. His mouth goes dry and she watches him struggle with the words, fishing out her clothes from the swift current.

“I uh, I…” He swallows hard and she watches the way his throat bobs as he tries to stand up straight despite his limp, “Are these yours?”


	3. Screaming Thoughts

**Prompt #9: My Brain Is Never Quiet**

Toto’s tail thumps against her thigh and she gives him a small smile, hand coming to rest on the top of the shepherd’s head before moving over just enough for him to stretch out and lay out along the length of her legs. Exhaustion thrums across her muscles as she reclines back against her pack, listening to the crackle of the fire, catching Lucas’ sleeping form just a foot away from hers. His jacket is wrapped tightly around him as the temperature drops for the night.

“Why are you not sleeping?” His voice cuts through the starlight and empty sounds of the night, leading Dorothy to turn her head away from him. She glances up at the sky instead, looks for the reflection of the moon but it’s nothing more than a sliver like the grin of a chesire cat from children’s story books. 

“Do I have to answer that?” She asks, hand back on Toto, scratching behind his ears just to feel his leg twitch against her own. She strokes the dog’s head back and forth, keeping herself calm with her fingers buried in his thick fur. 

“I would like it if you did.” He reaches over the dog, his hand touches the back of hers, causing her to jump at the attention, electricity slicing between them running up the length of her arm.

“Ever since I got here,” Dorothy sighs and turns her hand over. The tips of his rough fingers touch her palm, “Everything has been upside down, I can’t wrap my head around it. My brain hasn’t quit, I have so many questions and no answers. It’s never quiet, it’s one question after another.” 

He scoffs and it almost sounds like a laugh, a sleep deprived little laugh.

“What?” She asks trying to resist the smile, trying to resist clutching his fingers against her own. 

“Ever since you got here, I have been the same. No brain though,” He turns his head over and gives her this lopsided grin and even the dark she can feel the tension between them ease away. The nigh settles around them and she turns her fingers up and drags them between his open fingers.

“We’ll figure your brain out though,” She muses and then his lopsided smile fades, fades into nothing. He is dark blue eyes and a sad little frown.

“I hope so.”

“I know so.” She answers him quietly.


	4. The Monsters Have Come Out

**Prompt #4: The Monsters Have Come Out**

Everything was dead, the trees, the ground, nothing was growing. It was dark and snowy, exhaling heavily, Dorothy drug her feet off the edge of the dandelion colored road, looking at the yellow dust built up on her boots, kicking it off to avoid getting a lungful of opium. 

“Are you okay?” The voice drew her head up but the world still spun, everything was a sharp blend of beautiful and bold colors, bright and exhilarating – exhausting all in one go.

“I’m still not used to this place,” She waved a hand up, turning her head away from Lucas, dragging her dark gaze across the edge of the mountain top, “Not used to any of this, monsters and wizards, witches – we had witches supposedly in Salem.”

“What is Salem?”

“A faraway place.” She muttered the last part of the words, her voice trailing off as they continued on down the trail. His steps mirrored hers, heavier, feet dragging. He stopped grabbed onto the back of her jacket, dragging her back a few steps.

“Dorothy,” Lucas’ voice dropped, hoarse and low, that made the hair stand up along the back of her neck. 

“What is it?” She licked over her bottom lip, hand sliding back, she found his wrist and held tight to him to slow her shaking – to hide the frantic beating of her heart, “Lucas?” 

He gave her a quiet ‘shh’ and pulled her back closer, dragging her off of the trail into the dark wedge of a few outstanding rocks. Heavy footsteps dragged across the golden trail and his head bent low, lips grazing the crown of her dark head, “The monsters have come out."


	5. Hold Your Breath, Pretend This is the End

**Prompt: "Hold your breath, pretend this is the end."**

 

“Dorothy! Dorothy!”

He shouts but it’s too late. The golden road dips down over the edge of the cliff and she follows, skidding on her heels. Toto barks and the ground shakes. Her arms go out as if to reach for him but he’s too far, limping to catch up. Poppy seeds pick up with the wind and then the edge of the Earth crumbles, pieces of it breaking off into the river that courses beneath it.

“Lucas!” She’s calling for him, hands swinging down just as she falls. Her legs kick out and she catches the edge of a tree root sticking out of the ground. The root is sharp, digging into her palm. Dorothy bites into her bottom lip and squeezes her eyes shut in a prayer, pleading with anyone listening that the piece of tree stays intact.

“Dorothy, hang on.” His throat constricts and he manages to get closer to the sloping ground as tremors rack the land. Lucas bends his knees and edges closer to her dangling form, watching her boots kick out over the open air.

“I didn’t mean to go so far,” Guilt floods her words and she pulls at the root, listening to the plant groan under her weight as she digs her elbows down onto the ground. She gets almost no traction, instead slips further down. A piece of the root breaks and she lets out a sharp scream that stops his heart, “Lucas! Please…”

Panic fills her mouth, her dark eyes are wide and pleading with him. He reaches for her and his fingertips can only graze her jacket. The closer he gets the more the Earth shifts. Dorothy’s breathing picks up and he moves closer, hand grasping onto her wrist, “I need you to look at me,” He begs her to look at him and she does.

“Help me,” She is shaking – trembling under the fear of falling, of plummeting to her death in a strange world, never to be found again. He nods to her.

“Hold your breath okay?” He grips at her arm and takes a deep breath, “I need you to pretend this isn’t the end.”

A sharp gasp leaves her and before she can let go of the root he hauls her up, drags every ounce of his strength he can to pull her up. He claws at her upper arms, grasping onto her backpack. He hauls her into his chest and she panics, burying her face into the open collar of his jacket. She is shaking limbs and shallow breaths, dark hair tangled in his fingers he blows out a soft reassuring hum.

He lets her calm down before letting go, asking her to stay close – silently willing her not to go too close to the edge of the yellow road.


	6. Indigo Skies

Sylvie sleeps high above them in the loft, Toto is wrapped around the little girl while Lucas is wrapped around her just a few feet away, down the stairs, tangled mess of limbs and snarled hair. She sighs quietly, unable to sleep much more. Aunt Em is in her dreams, calling to her – the whistling sound of the tornado haunts low behind the wailing voice of her aunt, the feeling of homesickness settles low in her gut and sleep is a thing of the past. 

It’s still dark outside but her little sigh stirs the man next to her. Lucas shifts, arm caught under the curve of her neck, hand twitching along the curls of her dark hair, “You are thinking rather loudly,” He whispers sleepily. 

She wants to smile at him, even in the darkness – even in sleep he is good to her. Dorothy reaches over and presses a hand to the center of his bare chest, fingers stroking over the skin, palm pressing into the steady beat of his heart. She feels the invisible weight of the gauntlets, holding her down – keeping her magnetized to the Scarecrow. 

“I’m sorry,” She utters quietly, stretching out along side him until her toes delicately touch over his, she is cool and he is a furnace. She wraps herself in the warmth of him, enjoying the breeze that floats through the window as the sky shifts from a deep dark black to a lighter hue. Dawn is coming and so is her decision to leave. She’ll lead them home to Glinda – lead them to answers then find Lucas, Kansas once more. Guilt strikes her heart, cracking through her chest, but she pushes it away in favor of Lucas curling around her. He finds her in the dark, nose brushing hers and kisses her. Warm and soft, sweet even. 

“Back to sleep, we have a long day tomorrow.” His voice is honey like, thick with sleep and she soaks it all in, pressing a smaller kiss to his lower lip.

“Yes, yes we do.”


	7. Tender Ache

Seeing him chained and helpless just hours ago broke something in her chest, the beating of her heart hasn’t quite steadied itself against the cage of her ribs. He drives them on, herds them towards safety with Sylvie now sleeping in the loft and shadows dancing on the walls. They are settled in the small bed, her legs are tangle with his and yet even in the yellow light of the lanterns she can see the damage the Witch of the West or the Wizard had done to him. 

There’s a cut on his lip and she dips the edge of her thumb into it, watching him wince before giving her a crooked grin, “You should be resting,” He whispers quietly but he doesn’t move away from her prying fingers. She’s a nurse after all, she should have looked at him sooner.

Guilt buoys in her belly, back and forth – she drags her fingers over the scruff of his jaw and he winces once more when she presses her palm to his neck where the heavy iron collar hung. 

“Maybe we should stay here for a couple of days,” She whispers quietly, watching him sigh as he leans into her touch, lets her pry at his scars – her fingers are soft yet strong, hands warm, he loses himself in her little presses. Her thumb finds his pulse point and she counts slowly, remembering her early days in the hospital, trailing after doctors, dealing with the unruly patients of Lucas Kansas General. The memory makes her smile and in turn, Lucas smiles. He leans in across the pillow and slides his hand through her dark waves, curls his fingers along her neck and kisses her, he throws off her count and she decides tomorrow she’ll count and categorize all his scars, kiss his bruises, and apologize for the damage she’s about to do to his heart.


	8. A Person's Weight

There’s a cool breeze that filters in through the open window of the farmhouse, darkness settles in as Dorothy blows out the last lantern, plunging their safe haven into darkness, the only light on is in the loft with Sylvie and Toto.

“We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Lucas breathes as he sheds his jacket, loses his boots. Dorothy slowly edges for the bed, she’s lost her own jacket and flannel t-shirt. The sight of her in the low light makes his throat tighten and Lucas sits back, giving her room on the mattress. 

“We do,” She agrees as she settles onto the bed and wraps her arms around his heavy shoulders, leaning her weight on him. With a soft sigh he leans his head back and lets his forehead press to hers. The air around them settles and Dorothy presses her lips to his. They move slow and quiet, stretching out along the mattress, her legs tangle with his and she presses him down just to curl atop of him.

“You’re a furnace,” She teases him, lips finding his in the dark. His hands curl along the small of her back and he pulls her closer – he eliminates the space between them. Letting the weight of her hips press over his, exhaling softly as she curls her fingers along his cheeks and strokes his bottom lip with her thumb. 

“I think you make me one,” He tries to tease her back as he kisses the pad of her thumb, “You make me a lot of things Dorothy,” He whispers into the darkness and waits for her to object. Instead she simply stretches out, buries herself in the crook of his neck and exhales.

“You make me better too,” She assures him, fingers stroking lower, palm pressing over his chest feeling the beat of his heart.


	9. Brush of Fingers

“Lucas,” his name leaves her lips in a soft whisper, desperate – like she’s choking on it. The tremor of power echoes along her bones, she feels drained. Sylvie is safe, the wolves are gone but her hands are heavy. The golden gauntlets on her hands weigh her down. Her heart thunders in her chest and the air rushes from her lungs. Flexing her fingers they feel tight and restricted, holding them up they glitter in the bright light of the Oz’ian sun. Dorothy raises her hands up and trembles, knees knocking together she falls to the ground. The Earth sinks under her knees and her jeans rip at the sudden pressure. 

“Dorothy!” Lucas’ scream echoes across the meadow and Sylvie bubbles with tears, Toto barking around the young girl in circles, keeping her safe from the invisible magic that Dorothy has produced within a matter of death-defying seconds. 

The wet ground seeps into the denim of her jeans and she holds her hands up high as he knight tears across the meadow, he runs for her, sword swinging at his side. Sweat slips across his brow and he makes it to her, hand catching her wrist to pull her up, “Dorothy, are you alright?” His voice shakes and he hauls her up into his chest, hand sliding from her wrist as his fingers touch her palm then brush along hers with the golden gauntlets on.

“Is she okay?” Dorothy asks quietly turning her head up to look over his shoulder to find Sylvie standing in the meadow surrounded by burned – dying grass and Toto protecting her.

“She is now.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a lovely collection of quickly answered prompts from my tumblr. All mistakes are my own. Thank you for taking the time to read through these. I'm constantly taking prompts! Find me on tumblr @colleenvving + lets talk about these two darlings.


End file.
